Menu

Thursday, September 22, 2011

[Un]Discovers: Karolina Piech

Today, I am going to continue to feature another amazing master graduate from Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp and her name is Karolina Piech. To me, Karolina's collection is very edgy and I love the shapes of the pieces. Now, it is time for you to know more about this emerging designer!

Hello Karolina, it's my honor to feature you on the site this week! Let's start off with this question, what was the main reason why you wanted to study fashion design? If you did not choose this path, what do you think you would be doing right now?
My greatest passion is photography. I take pictures since I was pretty young and for me that is the ultimate way to express my thoughts and feelings. This passion keeps my memories alive in my head and that't the way I communicate with myself. This is something I can't give up because it's like breathing to me. When I am not photographing things, I will be writing as these two are my languages.

Fashion design is another thing to express my emotions, but in a different dimension. Here, I am still learning and experimenting, searching and observing. There's no big reason why I've decided to study this field as I have no plans to become the ULTIMATE FASHION CREATOR. Sometimes I feel like in fashion industry there's lesser design itself, as if there was no sweetness in sugar. :)

There's no doubt that I feel great emotions when looking at certain designers' creations. They touch me and it is hard for me to disconnect from designing things now. I miss the feeling when I don't design and create.

It looks like if you are not a fashion designer, you will be a photographer or writer and I think this is great, as both fields are in the arts industry too. So how will you describe your personal fashion style? Do you consider yourself as a fashion trendsetter?
I think it is way too early to risk the statement - I am a fashion trendsetter. There is always a certain area I am inspired by, that can eventually "create" my style in the eyes of the others. In my design there is a passion for architectural cut, sharpness, and definitely expressive and free drapery, which can be my way to explore unlimited new form, shape.

In my opinion, I think you are trendsetter because you create unique pieces for people to wear. So let's get back to your collection, what was the most difficult part when working on your graduation collection? If you had to choose only 1 piece to represent your collection, which one would it be? Why?
I focused this year on the form. For the first time I started from the piece of the fabric to create a shape, and not from the sketch. The difficult part was to grasp the shape afterwards, which means translating it into a flat pattern, keep the original form, with all its freedom and flow. It is easy to create the piece on a doll with pins, but rather adventurous when it comes to the final garment that body wears.

My favourite piece is the yellow silk dress, and the woven cape, with the little scale design.

That's a very interesting way to design your collection and the outcome is amazing! If you could use any world famous celebrities/models to be the face of your brand, who would you choose? Why?
Hannelore Knuts, ( attitude!) Tilda Swinton, David Gahan, Nick Cave - I respect those guys and see them easily in my sharp menswear design.

Tilda Swinton, that's the name I have in mind too! Well, I know you are originally form Poland, so what is the biggest difference between the fashion in Poland and Belgium?
In Poland it is not really common to create your own fabric(weave), print (on a natural fibre) and knit.Those aspects bring a lot more of the variousness in the design process. There are not many opportunities to do so and I think this lack of access limits designers a lot to create their collections. It is rare to see a good knitwear designed in Poland. There's not a great focus on printing either, but rather on a cut and finding a new form. Belgian "looseness", drapery and layers in design are also something that makes a big difference with Polish fashion. In fact last 5 years I didn't really follow what's fresh, new and upcoming in Poland so I'd rather hold on with the comparison.

Last but not least, now you have graduated, what is your next step for your fashion career?
I need to take a rest and find out my individual path. It's important for me to know what I would like to achive and where I'd like to see myself clearly, before actually start to work. I definitely want to stay in design, but maybe find a niche to combine it with other art aspects, like in Matthew Barney's "Cremaster" cycle.

------------------------------------

Now it's time to learn Karolina's favourite things!

Purple or Yellow?
Purple, with a hint of fuchsia

7 or 13?
None

Mango or Strawberry?
Mango

July or December?
Both

Givenchy or Lanvin?
Givenchy

Car or Bike?
Car – I adore driving, especially outside of town, with a good music on

Stripes or Dots?
Stripes

High Heels or Sneakers?
Sneakers, - i'm realistic

Bacon or Ham?
I'm vegetarian for 14 ys

Water or Juice?
Juice, still learning to appreciate pure water

Thank you so much to Karolina for answering my questions and I wish her all the best in the future! Stay tuned on this blog and see who I will be featuring next!